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SMALL ET AL (2005)

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If you want to explore Notting Hill Carnival's cultural roots, a drab-looking shop in the west London district of Harlesden is a surprisingly good place to start.

The exterior of Mahogany Carnival Design may be plain, but as soon as you step through the door, a dazzling array of costumes and props meets the eye, with a tall, sinister puppet standing guard at the entrance.

"People called him Fu Manchu," laughs designer Clary Salandy, who runs Mahogany with her partner, structural engineer Michael Ramdeen.

Under its proper name, Shadow Over Tiananmen Square, the puppet was a highlight of Mahogany's first appearance as a "mas" band, or costume band, at the Notting Hill Carnival in 1989.

Like the carnival itself, both Clary and Michael have their origins in Trinidad, and they believe in maintaining the Caribbean island's tradition of topical social commentary on current events.

As Clary explains, she had already designed another set of costumes for the 1989 carnival when the Chinese authorities sent soldiers and tanks into Tiananmen Square to clear pro-democracy protesters, killing hundreds of people.

"I just had this vision of this great puppet that I wanted to make. I felt that the Caribbean needed to support its Chinese people," she says, referring to the sizeable Chinese communities in Trinidad and Jamaica.

"So I changed the whole design that year. He really did tower over the band and you could see him coming down the hill."

Carnival ambassadors

Mahogany, a limited company run as a not-for-profit social enterprise, derives its main funding from a £115,000-a-year Arts Council grant.

But although its main motivation is artistic rather than commercial, its contribution to the business of Notting Hill Carnival should not be underestimated.

Unlike most carnival bands Mahogany operates all year round, providing costumes and shows for a wide range of events.

In the UK, its commissions have ranged from opera costumes at Glyndebourne to a live tableau recreating the Rose Window at St Albans Cathedral.

Mahogany's costumed dancers have also performed in other countries, including Nigeria, India and Singapore.

"We travel all over the world and they just want the spirit of Caribbean carnival in their event," says Clary.

As well as being international ambassadors for the carnival phenomenon, Mahogany's performers help to make Notting Hill Carnival a unique cultural product, more than simply Europe's largest street party.

Funding gap

As a worldwide event, only Rio de Janeiro's carnival in Brazil ranks ahead of Notting Hill in size.

According to the London Development Agency, it contributes up to £93m a year to the city's economy and supports the equivalent of 3,000 full-time jobs.

Visitors spend tens of millions of pounds buying food and drink from the carnival's 250 licensed trading sites, while music producers, clothing designers, merchandisers and security companies are among others who benefit.

The carnival also attracts an estimated 90,000 foreign tourists, who helped boost last year's attendance to more than a million.

But, unfortunately, "very little of that money finds its way back into carnival," as the event's co-director, Chris Boothman, laments.

In 2008, in an effort to avert a funding crisis, Mr Boothman and his fellow director, Ancil Barclay, took over the running of the event on a voluntary basis. It was meant to be an interim move, but three years later, they are still in charge.

I don't know how much longer it can continue in its present form
Chris Boothman, Notting Hill Carnival director

As Mr Boothman explains, while the carnival offers the chance for entrepreneurs to make money, the central organisation gets by on volunteer effort and financial support from local authorities.

"Because it's a free, street-based event, the opportunities for generating income are extremely limited," he says. "In most countries that have anything like this, it's heavily funded by central government."

Brand 'exploited'

Apart from state funding, says Mr Boothman, another idea to bring in more money for Notting Hill Carnival is to adopt the model of the Edinburgh Festival.

This would allow organisers to charge admission to various events that could run alongside the free festivities - creating "a season of carnival, effectively".

But one big drawback is that unlike, say, the Olympics, which jealously guards its branding, the Notting Hill Carnival has lost control of its intellectual property.

Mr Boothman points to unofficial carnival parties that use the name and brand, but make no contribution to the running costs of the event.

"Anyone can come along and say they're doing Notting Hill this and Notting Hill that. It's dispiriting when you can see people making lots of money and exploiting that."

Mr Boothman would like to be able to hand over to a core group of full-time staff, led by a festival director, a commercial director and an event manager.

But so far, there is no guarantee that the carnival will get the necessary funding.

"If it doesn't, the whole thing could possibly just fall over," he says. "I don't know how much longer it can continue in its present form."

Youth appeal

As the countdown to this year's carnival intensifies, Mahogany's three-storey building is abuzz with youngsters working on a voluntary basis to paint, glue and decorate dozens of costumes for the big day.

The larger costumes are too big for the premises and have to be assembled over the road in a nearby church hall.

In the wake of the riots that caused widespread destruction in various parts of London and other English cities, it is heartening to see how much the teams of teenagers, black and white, relish the chance for creative collaboration.

As Mahogany's promotional brochure says: "We are dedicated to helping underprivileged young people develop their skills and build greater confidence through the art of carnival."

Clary moves up and down the work benches, watching her designs take shape.

"Would you like to try on a hat?" she says to one little girl, the daughter of one of the older workers. "They're very tall, but the material's really light."

Clearly no-one is too young to get their first taste of carnival. Clary herself still has a trophy that she won in a carnival competition in Trinidad at the age of three. A picture of her in her prize-winning fairy costume is stuck to the wall, alongside press cuttings and other images of Mahogany's highlights as a band.

This year's theme is another last-minute decision by Clary, paying tribute to veteran Trinidad and Tobago carnival bandleader Wayne Berkeley, who died in June.

Notting Hill organisers have confirmed that the 2011 carnival will go ahead despite the riots. But another shadow is looming over this year's festivities - the spectre of high inflation.

Clary says the cost of the materials used to make her costumes is soaring. "Last year we might have bought something for £5, this year we're buying it for £15.

"Everything has increased. The insurance has gone up on the truck, the petrol has gone up. So in terms of the business of carnival, we're hitting a very difficult time."

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Notting Hill Carnival spirit boosts London's economy - BBC News

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If you want to explore Notting Hill Carnival's cultural roots, a drab-looking shop in the west London district of Harlesden is a surprisingly good place to start. The exterior of Mahogany Carnival Design may be plain, but as soon as you step through the door, a dazzling array of costumes and props meets the eye, with a tall, sinister puppet standing guard at the entrance.

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Map of NHC. Each street will be aligned with volunteers 

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Map of NHC. Each street will be aligned with volunteers 

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A chronic lack of funding, disagreements about the level of policing and internal disputes have put the future of the Notting Hill carnival in jeopardy after its two co-directors quit, saying the 46-year-old event has become impossible to manage.

Despite attracting more than a million people over the bank holiday, Europe's largest outdoor festival has no primary private sponsor and is largely organised by unpaid volunteers.

"It is still seen as just a Caribbean event and just not taken seriously," said Ancil Barclay, one of the co-directors who handed in his notice this week. "Carnival has to grow up. Everyone loves carnival, but when it comes to putting the right structures in place there is a total lack of investment."

His fellow co-director, Chris Boothman, said the carnival had been historically underfunded - run in the main by two volunteers - when events such as the Lord Mayor's Show could expect large amounts of financial and logistical support.

"Carnival is not just a free-for-all party," he said. "Its roots lie in celebrating the emancipation of slavery and it has high artistic values, but it is a struggle to uphold those values when it is so underfunded." Without full-time staff with experience of lobbying, the carnival would not get the recognition it deserved, he added.

The success of this year's carnival was seen as key to London's image after the ravages of the riots earlier in the summer. But conflicting interests between the police, who wanted the event to finish early to avoid trouble, and masquerade bands who were concerned that they would not get around the route in time caused problems for the organisers.

"There was a sense that we were changing the event, that we were selling out," said Barclay. "But I live in Notting Hill - I understand the balance has to be right."

The pair announced their resignation to Kensington and Chelsea council this week as well as to partners in the Metropolitan police, City Hall, and organisers of the 2012 Olympics.

Barclay is confident the 2012 carnival will go ahead - against the backdrop of the Olympics, it would be too embarrassing to see it fail - but he fears for the future.

"Beyond 2012 it is questionable because it is so underfunded," he said. "Most people don't realise this whole thing has been run by two unpaid volunteers. It should be a wake-up call: if you value the Notting Hill carnival, then invest in it."

Far from the image of a carnival community all pulling in the same direction the pair paint a picture of power plays and internal struggle. In a letter to the various authorities the two voluntary organisers wrote that after a post-carnival meeting on 21 September, "it increasingly became obvious that we had lost the level of support required to continue effectively".

Barclay said: "Each year we have a spectacular display but behind the scenes it is dysfunctional to the core. It should be creating employment, it should be educational - it could be so much more with the proper investment.

"I hope that the next people can take it to the next level, but that is not something you can do on a voluntary basis."

News of the organisers' resignation is likely to throw plans for the 2012 carnival into turmoil.

"I am worried about 2012, It needs a group of people that understand the need for proper investment and support by the authorities and that is not in place," said Boothman, a solicitor who was legal head of the now defunct Commission for Racial Equality and a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority. "We've gone because we don't think that, as things stand, we can do it - and frankly if we can't, I'm not sure who can."

Barclay said there was a lack of willingness to change the current way of working. "We need a complete restructure to make carnival fit for purpose but instead there is a power struggle between people with a lot of historical baggage."

Ricky Belgrave, chairman of the British Association of Static Sound Systems (Bass), one of the arenas at carnival, said he was surprised at the news and said his organisation did not have a problem with the former directors.

"I'm surprised at the decision and I'm sorry they have resigned, on behalf of Bass we want to thank them for their work. Now the arenas will have to get together and talk about how we can take Carnival forward."

Henry Bonsu, director of the digital station Colourful Radio, said the carnival desperately needed stability.

"It's going to be very important in the future, especially in Olympic year, to find a team that understands the history of the event and has the vision to take it forward."

The resignation of Boothman and Barclay will come as a blow to many who had welcomed the continuity they provided over the past four years.

Crime fell each year they were in charge, by 31% in 2010. The large debt that had confronted the two when Barclay came on board in 2009 - in the region of £150,000, they say - has been cleared.

Jennette Arnold, chair of the London Assembly, said the two men had gone beyond the call of duty.

"Without them, at a difficult time, there would not have been a carnival. One wonders who they are going to find to bring together all of the constituents in the way those two did."

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Is it all over for Notting Hill carnival?

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A chronic lack of funding, disagreements about the level of policing and internal disputes have put the future of the Notting Hill carnival in jeopardy after its two co-directors quit, saying the 46-year-old event has become impossible to manage.